Kent Street, Sydney quarantined during black plague outbreak

The NSW government commandeered huge tracts of land when the bubonic plague struck Sydney in 1900.

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After the bubonic plague first struck Sydney in 1900, its spread was slowed by isolating infected victims and their dwellings. At the behest of the New South Wales government, architect and consulting engineer George McCredie took charge of all quarantine activities. Under his supervision, precincts were barricaded off, and slums were demolished. Decades of unregulated building had created conditions that were ripe for the spread of infectious disease, and the outbreak hastened Sydney's urban renewal. The rights of tenants were not recognised and the government reclaimed ownership of an area almost spanning from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour, now Sydney's central business district. (State Library of New South Wales/Flickr)